ABSTRACT
Many rural indigenous communities rely on science knowledge and innovation for survival and economic advancement, which requires community members to be motivated for learning science. Children in these communities have been viewed by some as unmotivated due to their low science achievement as they progress in school, particularly into majority secondary schools. Current theories of motivation, such as achievement goal theory, take classroom context into account when examining individual motivation. However, motivational climate can also be considered as tightly woven with the cultural and social practices of a community rather than individual perception. In this study, researchers spent time in two indigenous villages observing classrooms, participating in community events, and talking with community members. During those visits, Attayal/Sediq children in Taiwan (n = 18) and Mopan Mayan children in Belize (n = 18) participated in three semi-structured interviews about their experience learning science in school, home, and community. Results indicate that motivation for learning science is closely linked with their identity as science learners. Three themes emerged to illuminate how social practices may or may not support individual identity, and consequently motivation, for learning science—student/teacher relationships, support for learning, and motivational climate. Differences between children in Taiwan and Belize are explored. Implications for motivation theory, educational practice, and policy are discussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abrams, E., Middleton, M., Benson, J. (2009). The development of motivation and academic identity for science learning in early adolescents from indigenous communities. Paper presented at the National Association for Research in Science Teaching’s Annual Conference. Anaheim, CA.
Ainley, M. & Ainley, J. (2011). A cultural perspective on the structure of student interest in science. International Journal of Science Education, 33(1), 51–71.
American Association for the Advancement of Science (1993). Benchmarks for science literacy. New York: Oxford University Press.
Ames, C. (1987). The enhancement of student motivation. In M. Maehr & D. Kleiber (Eds.), Advances in motivation and achievement vol. 5: Enhancing motivation (pp. 123–148). Greenwich: JAI Press.
Ames, C. & Archer, J. (1988). Achievement goals in the classroom: Students’ learning strategies and motivation processes. Journal of Educational Psychology, 80(3), 260–267.
Ames, C. (1990). Achievement goals and classroom structure: Developing a learning orientation in students. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association. Boston, MA.
Ames, C. (1992). Classrooms: Goals, structures, and student motivation. Journal of Educational Psychology, 84(3), 261–271. doi:10.1037/0022-0663.84.3.261.
Barnhardt, R. (2007). Creating a place for indigenous knowledge in education: The Alaska native knowledge network. In G. Smith & D. Gruenewald (Eds.), Local diversity: Place-based education in the global age. Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
Blumenfeld, P. C. (1992). The task and the teacher: Enhancing student thoughtfulness in science. In J. Brophy (Ed.), Advances in research in teaching: (Vol. 3 pp. 81–114). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press Inc.
Cajete, G. (2000). Native science: Natural laws of interdependence. Santa Fe: Clear Light Publishers.
Chien, S.-J. (1998). Cultural reatures and math learning: A case of Yami people in the Orchid Island. Journal of National Taitung Teachers College, 9, 283–306.
Ciani, K. D., Middleton, M. J., Summers, J. J. & Sheldon, K. M. (2010). Buffering against performance classroom goal structures: The importance of autonomy support and classroom community. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 35(1), 88–99.
Dever, B. V. & Karabenick, S. A. (2011). Is authoritative teaching beneficial for all students? A multi-level model of the effects of teaching style on interest and achievement. School Psychology Quarterly, 26(2), 131–144.
Dweck, C. S. (1986). Motivational processes affecting learning. American Psychologist, 41(10), 1040–1048.
Epstein, J. L. (1989). Family structures and student motivation: A developmental perspective. In C. Ames & R. Ames (Eds.), Research on motivation in education (Vol. 3, pp. 259–295). San Diego: Academic Press.
Erickson, F. (1986). Qualitative methods in research on teaching. In M. C. Wittrock (Ed.), Handbook of research on teaching (pp. 119–161). New York: Macmillan.
Fu, L.-Y. (1999). Science education for the aboriginal schools in Taiwan: A world view perspective. Chinese Journal of Science Education, 7(1), 71–90.
Gee, J. P. (2001). Identity as an analytic lens for research in education. In W. G. Secada (Ed.), Review of research in education (Vol. 25, pp. 99–126). Washington, DC: American Educational Research Association.
Hall, D. & Kennedy, S. (2006). Primary progress, secondary challenge: A state by state look at student achievement patterns. Washington, DC: Education Trust.
Harmon, H. L., Henderson, S. A. & Royster, W. C. (2003). A research agenda for improving science and mathematics education in rural schools. Journal of Research in Rural Education, 18(1), 52–58.
Henningsen, M. & Stein, M. K. (1997). Mathematical tasks and student cognition: Classroom-based factors that support and inhibit high-level mathematical thinking and reasoning. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 28, 524–549.
Hickey, D. T. (2003). Engaged participation versus marginal nonparticipation: A stridently sociocultural approach to achievement motivation. The Elementary School Journal, 103(4), 401–429.
Howard, D. (2002). Family, friends and teachers: Why indigenous students stay at or leave school. Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 30(2), 8–12.
Kaplan, A., Middleton, M. J., Urdan, T. & Midgley, C. (2002). Achievement goals and goal structures. In C. Midgley (Ed.), Goals, goal structures, and patterns of adaptive learning (pp. 21–53). Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Ladson-Billings, G. (1994). The dreamkeepers: Successful teachers for African-American children. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Leap, W. L. (1982). Dimensions of math avoidance among American Indian elementary school students. Washington, DC: National Institute of Education. ED 244 748.
Lee, V. E., Smith, J. B., Perry, T. E. & Smylie, A. (1999). Social support, academic press, and student achievement. Chicago: Consortium on Chicago School Research.
Lin, H.-P. (1999). Discussion of the dilemma with Aborigine’s education in elementary school. Aboriginal Education Quarterly, 13, 91–96.
Lipka, J. (2009). Toward a culturally based pedagogy: A case study of on Yup’ik Eskimo teacher. Anthropology and Education Quarterly, 22(3), 203–223.
McInerney, D. M. & Ali, J. (2006). Multidimensional and hierarchical assessment of school motivation: Cross-cultural validation. Educational Psychology: An International Journal of Experimental Educational Psychology, 26, 717–734.
McInerney, D. M., Roche, L. A., McInerney, V. & March, H. W. (1997). Cultural perspectives on school motivation: The relevance and application of goal theory. American Educational Research Journal, 34(1), 207–236.
Meece, J. L. (1991). The classroom context and students' motivational goals. In M. L. Maehr & P. Pintrich (Eds.), Advances in motivation and achievement: Vol. 7. Goals and self-regulatory processes. Greenwich: JAI Press.
Meece, J. L., Anderman, E. M. & Anderman, L. H. (2006). Classroom goal structure, student motivation, and academic achievement. Annual Review of Psychology, 57, 487–503.
Middleton, M. J. (2008). “I will not let this be an intellectual wasteland”: The legacy and limitations of an inspiring teacher. In F. Pajares & T. Urdan (Eds.), Adolescence and education: Vol. 4. The ones we remember: Scholars reflect on teachers who made a difference (pp. 111–125). Charlotte: Information Age Publishing.
Middleton, M. J. & Midgley, C. (2002). Beyond motivation: Middle school students’ perceptions of press for understanding in math. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 27(3), 373–391. doi:10.1006/ceps.2001.1101.
Middleton, M. J. & Perks, K. (2005). The enactment of mastery goals for secondary student writing: A sociocultural approach to achievement goal theory. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, CA.
Midgley, C., Feldlaufer, H. & Eccles, J. S. (1989). Student-teacher relations and attitudes toward mathematics before and after the transition to junior high school. Child Development, 60, 375–395.
Midgley, C., Kaplan, A. & Middleton, M. J. (2001). Performance-approach goals: Good for what, for whom, under what circumstances, and at what cost? Journal of Educational Psychology, 93(1), 77–86. doi:10.1037/0022-0663.93.1.77.
National Research Council (1996). National science education standards: Observe, interact, change, learn. Washington: National Academy Press.
National Center for Educational Statistics (2010). The condition of education 2010. Washington, DC: US Department of Education.
Nicholls, J. G. (1989). The competitive ethos and democratic education. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Nolen, S. & Ward, C. (2008). Sociocultural and situative approaches to studying motivation. In M. Maehr, S. Karabenick & T. Urdan (Eds.), Advances in motivation and achievement (Vol. 15, pp. 425–460). Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Nolen, S. & Ward, C. (2009). Sociocultural and situative approaches to studying motivation. In T. Urdan (Ed.), Advances in motivation and achievement (Volume 15): Social psychological perspective on motivation and achievement. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Page, S. & Asmar, C. (2008). Beneath the teaching iceberg: Exposing the hidden support dimensions of indigenous academic work. Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 37, 109–117.
Patrick, H., Anderman, L. H., Ryan, A. M., Edelin, K. & Midgley, C. (2001). Teachers’ communication of goal orientations in four fifth-grade classrooms. The Elementary School Journal, 102, 35–58.
Patrick, H., Ryan, A. M. & Kaplan, A. (2007). Early adolescents’ perception of the classroom social environment, motivational beliefs, and engagement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 99(1), 83–98. doi:10.1037/0022-0663.99.1.83.
Rutherford, F. J. & Ahlgren, A. (1991). Science for all Americans. New York: Oxford Press.
Seidman, I. (1998). Interviewing as qualitative research: A guide for researchers in education and the social sciences. New York: Teachers College Press.
Sinha, C. (2000). Culture, language and the emergence of subjectivity. Culture & Psychology, 6(2), 197–207.
Smith, L. T. (1999). Decolonizing methodologies: Research and indigenous peoples. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
Trueba, E. H. T. (1988). Culturally based explanations of minority students’ academic achievement. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 19(3), 270–287.
Turner, J. C. & Meyer, D. K. (2004). A classroom perspective on the principle of moderate challenge in mathematics. The Journal of Educational Research, 97(6), 311–318. doi:10.3200/JOER.97.6.311-318.
Turner, J. C. & Patrick, H. (2004). Motivational influences on student participation in classroom learning activities. Teachers College Record, 106(9), 1759–1785. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9620.2004.00404.x.
Turner, J. C. & Patrick, H. (2008). How does motivation develop and why does it change? Reframing motivation research. Educational Psychologist, 43, 119–131.
Urdan, T. (1997). Achievement goal theory: Past results, future directions. In P. R. Pintrich & M. L. Maehr (Eds.), Advances in motivation and achievement (Vol. 10, pp. 99–142). Greenwich: JAI.
Valencia, R. R. (Ed.). (1997). The evolution of deficit thinking: Educational thought and practice. Washington, DC: Falmer Press.
Vedder-Weiss, D. & Fortus, D. (2012). Adolescents’ declining motivation to learn science: A follow-up study. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 49(9), 1057–1095.
Walker, R. (September 2007). Sociocultural perspectives on academic regulation and identity: Theoretical issues. Paper presented at the 12th Biennial Conference of the European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction, Budapest, Hungary.
Wentzel, K. R., Battle, A. & Russell, S. L. (2010). Social supports from teachers and peers as preictors of academic and social motivation. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 35(3), 193–202.
Zimmer-Gembeck, M. J. & Locke, E. M. (2007). The socialization of adolescent coping: Relationships at home and school. Journal of Adolescence, 30, 1–16.
Zusho, A., Pintrich, P. R. & Cortina, K. S. (2005). Motives, goals and adaptive patterns of performance in Asian American and Anglo American students. Learning and Individual Differences, 15(2), 141–158.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Middleton, M., Dupuis, J. & Tang, J. CLASSROOMS AND CULTURE: THE ROLE OF CONTEXT IN SHAPING MOTIVATION AND IDENTITY FOR SCIENCE LEARNING IN INDIGENOUS ADOLESCENTS. Int J of Sci and Math Educ 11, 111–141 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-012-9385-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-012-9385-5